We had a great Wednesday Wrap Up last night. John Tully won the Ugliest Toes contest in a near draw with Krista Palm. Bruce Barnhart took the Predict-A-Mile crown (predicted 8:00, ran 7:59, narrowly edging Tully by :01). Laurie Halpenny won the Running Haiku contest, there were several good entries from Steve Stender, Amie Rief, Krista Palm, and Bob Harris. Javier Garcia is still working on his. After gathering at the Upstream 25 of us shared our top running moments of the year. A lot of impressive accomplishments, debuts, and overcoming of odds. Contest winners were awarded the coveted 23 ounce beverage of choice.
Ran a West loop (3.1 miles) barefoot this morning. Continuing to strengthen the lower extremities for cross. The legs feel pretty shelled after yesterday’s workout, quarters tomorrow, getting faster by the day, a wonderful journey to be on. I’ve rustled together my makeshift sled and will be doing some “pulls” though and around the dojo in upcoming weeks. I harness myself to tow various weights, primarily pieces of granite, over hill and dale. Trudging at first getting used to the load on new muscle groups but eventually doing more concentrated and sustained efforts. Rebuilding from the ground up.
The Pan Am Games have been going on in Guadalajara, Mexico. The games serve as the North American continent’s version of the Commonwealth Games. One of my oldest colleagues, Kim Keenan Kirkpatrick is serving as the Team Manager. She and I came up through the USATF trenches together beginning in the mid 90s. She polished, me, well, you know me. Kim also is the Athletic Director at Seton Hall University and an attorney. She served as Assistant Distance Coach at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a real go getter.
Hope you are all planning on coming out to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch this Saturday. We’ll have you through and on your way back home in time for kick-off!
Team Nebraska Brooks welcomes former UNL standout Kyle Custer to the squad. Kyle finished 2nd to Peter at last week’s Swamp Stomp and will make a Very Strong addition to the team. Originally from Cambridge, NE Kyle recorded prs of 4:07 for the Mile and 14:51 for 5000 meters. Welcome Kyle and Giddyup!
Shain Kephart will be running the Red Kettle Run 5K this Saturday. It used to bug me when events scheduled on our same day. Now I happily float down the Middle Path, a nod and a smile for everyone, and can even encourage our athletes to support these other races. By the way, he’s In it to Win it. Giddyup!
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